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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22930444">Of Course</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/prophet_of_troy/pseuds/prophet_of_troy'>prophet_of_troy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Awkwardness, Blind Date, Drabble, Facebook: Draco's Den, How Do I Tag, Lucius Malfoy is too charming, Not technically a pairing yet?, Pen Pals, Pre-Relationship, Rare Pair, Referenced Lucius/Narcissa, Tension</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 07:01:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,079</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22930444</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/prophet_of_troy/pseuds/prophet_of_troy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The problem with anonymous letter sending, is that they eventually turn into blind dates. The problem with blind dates is that they inevitably lead to non-anonymity, and Lily isn't quite sure what to do with that.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Draco's Drabbles</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Of Course</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><span><br/></span> <span>She wasn’t going to go in. Or maybe she was. No. No, she couldn’t. Her heart pounded, pacing outside of the private room wringing her hands. She was excited, and at the same time, she thought she was going to be sick. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>“Buck up,” she whispered to herself. “You’re already here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“As amusing as it is to watch you worry yourself, Miss Evans, are you going to continue or are you going to come in.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her eyes widened as she whirled around to face him, her lips pursing at the sight of who was waiting. She hadn’t known, of course she hadn’t known. They’d only written letters so far, and never with any names- though she’d always thought he might know who she was with a few things he’d said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“M-Malfoy?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’d opened the door gracefully, and when she looked he was standing there looking as perfect as he always did. At her saying his name he smiled tightly at her, charming. James Potter </span>
  <em>
    <span>wished</span>
  </em>
  <span> he could be so charming as Lucius Malfoy was just by existing. The smile, even if it was obviously tense, took her breath away a little bit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lucius,” he drawled. “Please. And, please, come in. You’ll wear a hole in the carpet.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She clenched her jaw and crossed her arms defensively, shielding herself from that thing he had that drew people to him. “You knew who I was before I showed up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His smile turned more genuine and she looked away from it. “I did, and I am still here. Please, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Lily</span>
  </em>
  <span>, come in. There’s hardly a date without </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lily decided she quite liked the way he said her name, and pursed her lips tighter so she wouldn’t show it before saying, “Perhaps if I had known it was to be a date with you, I might not have come at all.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And yet, </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> are also still here.” He gestured with an elegant hand, again for her to come in. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She fought the smile harder and walked carefully past him into the private meeting room he’d rented for the afternoon. She didn’t know what he smelled like, maybe paper or rain or something, but it was amazing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was a nice room, but she would have expected nothing less considering who he was. There was a table with food and drink, a separate table with two chairs, and a separate sitting area with plush cushions. Her eyes did a sweep of the room and she turned back to him as he shut the door. His long hair was tied back and he wasn’t wearing school robes; instead, wearing rich robes that mildly resembled muggle formal attire and she wondered if he had done that on purpose.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lily,” he said softly. “You have nothing to fear from me. I meant it sincerely when we set this little blind meeting, when I told you I wished to get to know one another in person. If you wish to leave you may do so, but if you wish to stay may we not shed our public faces of ‘Slytherin aristocracy’ and ‘Gryffindor princess’? As we’ve done in our letters, whether you were aware or not?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She watched him as he talked, feeling soothed as she did. Lily felt the forced tension in her shoulders and she took a deep breath. “You’re right. I meant it too. It </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> sort of nice to put a face and name to words. I suppose I just feel silly that I didn’t guess it might be you in the first place. Your handwriting and vocabulary are… singular.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lucius seemed to brighten a bit at her acceptance and he nodded his head to its side in thanks. He walked forward from the door and held his hands up and around at the room. “Please, sit.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you,” she said quietly. She moved to sit at the table, the only one of the two with chairs, and he was quick to pull the chair out for her and tuck it under once she was in it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My pleasure, my dear,” he whispered in her ear. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lily exhaled sharply, but when he stepped around to the other side of the table to sit down himself there was no change in him at all. She fingered the table cloth, thinking there was a question she wanted to be answered before anything. “Why would you keep writing if you knew who I was? My blood is just as muddy on paper as it is in person.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His face tightened and he cleared his throat. “I don’t really have an answer for you. We started writing and I deduced your identity and…… I kept writing. I actually quite like you, Evans- </span>
  <em>
    <span>Lily</span>
  </em>
  <span>. If you haven’t noticed by now then I owe you an apology.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She smiled. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I quite like your smile.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re smooth,” she told him, her smile turning into a laugh. “And how is it you are here with me, being so poised, and not someone else?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You refer to my betrothal to Narcissa.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This wasn’t at all like she’d imagined their date to be like, when he wrote and said he wanted to see her. Almost. It was almost like she’d envisioned, and maybe it would have been if she could stop talking about such awkward topics, but things just kept coming out of her mouth without her permission. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She going to tell him it didn’t matter. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Everyone knows the two of you are to be married,” she told him instead. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lucius smiled at her and nodded. “And yet, </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> sit across from me and not her. To answer your previous question, as to why that is, I found a note obviously written by and for yourself, and decided to send a reply you didn’t ask for.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He said everything so sincere that she couldn’t help but believe him. She quite liked him as well. She was here because she’d liked him. But knowing he was who she now knew he was, gave her pause. She knew who he was, what he stood for, and she knew who </span>
  <em>
    <span>she</span>
  </em>
  <span> was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m glad,” she told him. “That you wrote a reply I never asked for. I’ve liked getting to know you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Likewise. I’ve noticed you from afar, of course.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her chest pounded harder, faster, skipping a beat. “Oh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course,” he repeated silkily. His eyes dipped just a little, looking at her lips with something of a smirk, and back to her eyes again. </span>
</p>
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